Winter 2004 Vol. 16, No. 2
A publication of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
http://www.aelweb.vcu.edu
Program Improvement
NRS: Building Virginia’s Future
One Learner at a Time by Patty Shortt and Randall Stamper
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wo hundred twenty-five professionals from sixty-seven adult education programs have completed approximately 3,200 collective hours of training and 536 hours of pre-work assignment. That work has generated the dynamics now producing positive changes across the state. These education practitioners have embraced the challenge motivated by a federal directive for individual states and local programs to improve the quality of National Reporting System data. An NRS training team, comprised of Carol Chafin, Anita Prince, and Patty Shortt, conducted 128 hours of NRS Level II and III training based on a PlanDo-Study-Act program-improvement cycle in all eight Superintendent Regions. This training was rigorous, but adult education practitioners are using what they have learned to take a close look at how they operate and to deduce how they can improve operations. Undoubtedly, program improvement progress will be evident in the 2004 NRS reporting data.
“We Can Do This:”
An Adult Education Program Rises to the Challenge by Virginia Leadbetter-Bolte
By 2005, the NRS reporting data should reveal enormous accomplishments in program performance, which will definitely influence the next round of federal funding decisions for adult education. Whereas Level I was simply an explanation of what the National Reporting System is, NRS Level II equips program managers and their teams with the skills
…our job is not only to help adult learners become literate, but also to support them in the practical application of their literacy levels. needed to analyze program performance by interpreting data to define problems and propose solutions. NRS Level III is an intense workshop. Teams analyze and interpret their own program data compiled in the pre-work assignment, find the root cause(s) of program-specific problems(s), and design action plans to improve recruitment, retention, educa-
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t is a frightening time to be in Adult Education these days. Talk of standards, funding, and program improvement have many of us worried. I even thought to myself recently that I wanted a nice, safe little job. But I’ve invested the last eleven years in Adult Education, and I’ve always liked a good challenge. So I decided to suck it up and keep going. “Let’s determine all of the obstacles,” I told the staff this week in our mid-year meeting, “but let’s concentrate more on finding solutions, making this work.” I had asked the staff to read the Adult Basic and Literacy Education Act before
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One Learner at a Time “We Can Do This” Click: On Weblogs Teacher Observation Project Foundations & Grants Online Building Sustainable Funding, Part II 8 Content Standards 10 Language of Opportunity 14 VALRC Online Courses 14 Update on GED Initiative 15 True Notebooks: Review Back Peak Performance tional functioning level gain, and the establishment of follow-up goals. Though it’s a work-intensive process, the overwhelming response has been positive. “Our team had a sense of what we needed to do but lacked a clear focus,” explained Tonya Creasy. She and her team at Northern Neck Adult Education finished Level III in October of last year. “This opportunity to participate in training provided us with the evidence we needed to clearly see what we needed to accomplish. We needed to get out of the box and be open to expanding our horizons and entertain a wide range of activities relating to our solution analysis.” Other programs are Continued on page 12 ... coming to the meeting so they would understand that change was imminent. “Ultimately, I think our program will be better for it,” I said. I believed what I had told them. We must change. I know that, in the long run, content standards will make our program stronger and better able to serve those who walk through our door. It’s been a harried journey for me as a program leader. I’ve had times when I stood behind our state leadership, times when I was angry with all of the changes coming at me so fast, and times like right now when I believe that they’re fighting Continued on page 12 ...
